By Debbie Gregory.
Philanthropist Steven A. Cohen has pledged $275 million for a national network of free mental health clinics for military veterans and their families.
The Cohen Veterans Network is the next phase of Cohen’s long-term commitment to help veterans and their families. Cohen’s son, Robert, was deployed as a U.S. Marine to Afghanistan in 2010 and is currently serving in the Reserves.
The Cohen Veterans Network website iterates that every day, many veterans and their families are living with the mental and physical scars from serving their country during military service. The network was created to serve them by providing high-quality, accessible, and comprehensive mental health care to transition them to their next mission: healthy and happy lives.
The billionaire hedge fund investor plans to open 25 clinics by 2020, serving more than 25,000 patients a year, according to Anthony Hassan, executive director of the Cohen Veterans Network.
Cohen got involved in veterans’ mental health while serving on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, New York’s largest poverty-fighting organization. In 2013, the Robin Hood Foundation’s Veterans Advisory Board raised $13 million in new funding to help veterans and their families.
Clinics slated to open soon include: a San Antonio facility in partnership with Family Endeavors; a Dallas clinic affiliated with Metrocare Services; a Los Angeles clinic based at the University of Southern California; and a Philadelphia clinic based at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ninety-six percent of the Cohen Veterans Network budget will go to the clinics, mostly for care, with 16 percent for electronic record implementation, data analytics and training.
Cohen has also earmarked around $30 million for Cohen Veterans Bioscience to accelerate development of biomarker tests and drug-based therapies for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. Patients at the Cohen Veterans Network clinics will be able to participate in studies.
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